barnes



No. 620,532. Patented Feb. 28, I899.

G. BARNES.

FASTENER FOR SHOES OR OTHER ARTICLES 0F WEARING APPAREL.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1898.) I (No Model.) 3 Sheets$ heet I.

N0. 520,532. Patented Feb. 28, I899.

G. BARNES. FASTENER FOR SHOES OR OTHER ARTICLES UF WEARING APPAREL.

(Application filed Apr. 16, 1898.]

(No Model.) I 3 SheetsSheet 2.

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No. 620,532. Patented Feb. 28, I899.

' G. BARNES.

FASTENER FDR SHOES OR OTHER ARTICLES 0F WEARING APPAREL.

(Application filed Apr. 16, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets$haet 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BARNES, OF ALBERT PARK, NEAR MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, ASSIGNOR TO IVILLIAM YVHYTE OABENA, OF SAME PLACE.

FASTENER FOR SHOES OR OTHER ARTICLES 0F WEARING-APPAREL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,532, dated February 28, 1899.

Application filed April 16, 1898. Serial No. 677,901. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE BARNES, journalist, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. 42 Canterbury road, Albert Park, near Melbourne, in the British Colony of Victoria, have invented an Improved Fastener for Shoes or other Articles of VVearing-Apparel, (for which I haveapplied for a patent in Victoria, No. 14,560, on the 9th day of September, 1897; in South Australia, No. 5,086, on the 4th day of October, 1897; in New South Wales, No; 7,871, on the 6th day of October, 1897, and in Great Britain, No. 26,052, on the 9th day of November, 1897, and in the name of William Whyte Oabena as my assignee in Queensland, February, 1898,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates, mainly, to fasteners for shoes and other articles of wearing-apparel. Its object is to provide a simple and inexpensive fastening which will securely hold together the meeting edges of a shoe, boot, corset, glove, or other article of wearingapparel and which can be easily operated in order to fasten or unfasten said meeting edges.

According to this invention a wire or strip of sheet metal is secured down each of the meeting edges of the shoe or other article of wearing-apparel and a clip or collar is arranged to engage with the two wires or strips, so that on being moved or drawn upward it will draw the two strips or wires together and will hold same, thus securely fastening the shoe, boot, corset, glove, or other article of wearing-apparel. Provision is made, as hereinafter described, for retaining the clip or collar in its raised or locked position.

It will be obvious that an invention of this description can be very considerably modified without departing from its essential features. Some of these modifications I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a shoe fitted with myimproved fastener, showing same in its open position. Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1-, but showing the shoe in its closed position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shoe on line 3 3, Fig. 1, but showing the clip attached to a tongue and moved up slightly toward its closed position. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4 4, Fig. 2, but drawn to a larger scale. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a modified form of clip. Fig. 6 is a plan of a pair of guide-bars constructed of stout wire. Figs. 7 and 8 are views illustrating a modification of the invention wherein one of said bars is straight. Fig. 9 is a plan illus trating a convenient manner of securing the fastener to an ordinary shoe fitted with eyelet-holes for laces. Fig. 10 is an elevation of a corset fitted with this invention. Figs. 11 and 12 are views of two gloves fitted with this invention.

The same letters of reference are used for indicating similar or corresponding parts in all the figures.

The eyeleted opening of a shoe when unfastened approximates in form tothe letter V, and it is obvious that if the meeting edges of this opening were made of some rigid material, such as wire or strips of sheet metal, and a clip or collar just large enough to engage or clip the two wires or strips at their lowest of narrowest part were forced upward it would have the effect of bringing the two meeting edges together and would hold them in that position.

In carrying my invention into practice I prefer to cut from a sheet of thin metal two narrow strips A A of suitable length and attach one of them to or alongside each of the meeting edges of the opening above referred to, and I form a clip or collar B, of thin metal, so that it will engage with and connect the two strips A A in such a way that when said clip or collar is slid down to its lowest position said strips will be free to move apart, but when said clip is drawn to its raised position said strips will be brought together again and the shoe will be fastened. These strips are preferably shaped as illustrated in Fig. 1-that is, they are cut away at their outside edges near the bottom, as illustrated at a, in order that the opening of the shoe may be extended when the clip is moved down to the bottom of said strips. These latter may be made of gradually-increasing width near their upper ends, so that the clip as it travels up an inclined plane formed thereby draws the meeting edges of the shoe together. It is absolutely essential that one or both of play for the foot.

these strips should have alternate projections and recesses on their outer edges, as illustrated at a, so as to retain the clips or collars in the positions to which they are slid, and in the case of wires being 'used instead of strips they must be so bent as to form alternate projections and recesses for the same purpose. One or more recesses may be provided at about the middle of the strips, as indicated at a so that the wearer can in the event of the shoe hurting him slide the clip B only partly up the strips A A, thus leaving more The clip B is by preference attached to the under side of a leather or other tongue 0, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the lower end of said tongue being secured to the shoe, while its upper end carries said clip. A button b or some similar contrivance is preferably used for securing said clip to said tongue. When the shoe is fastened, this tongue completely covers its front opening, as will be readily understood.

Where the invention is applied to a boot, the strips A A are arranged to extend up to slightly above the instep, but the tongue C would extend up to the top of the boot,where it could be secured by a button, hook, or other fastening on each side.

If preferred, instead of both the strips being constructed of the shape illustrated in Fig. 1 one of them might be made perfectly straight, as indicated in Fig. 7, and the clips B might be constructed, as illustrated in Fig. 5, with an eye or ring at one end adapted to encircle the straight strip, while its other end engages with the other strip. This construction will be specially useful where wire is used as a substitute for the strips, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 8.

In order that the invention may be used on ordinary shoes, the wire may be bent into the shape shown in Fig. 9, with a portion at each end bent into a loop and hook, as illustrated at a in said Fig. 9, the hook being intended to be passed into engagement with one of the ordinary eyelet-holes of the shoe and then to be hammered down to grip same securely.

The invention can be applied for the purpose of fastening corsets, it being necessary to attach strips or wires A A down each side of the meeting edges of the corset, as illustrated in Fig. 10, and to provide said strips or wires with three, four, five, or any preferred number of clips B, which by preference in this case take the form of hooks, one

end being an eye arranged to encircle one of said wires or strips, while the other end can be placed in engagement with the other wire or strip. These are shaped as shown, so that when the clips have been moved into the desired positions they will be retained there and the sides of the corset will be drawn together.

The application of the invention for fastening gloves will be readily understood on reference to Figs. 11 and 12. It may be necessary to use a spring-hook or spring-button fastening, as shown at D, for securing the upper part of the glove, and then to apply the wires or strips A A and clip B for securing the lower part, or two clips might be used, as illustrated in Fig. 12, the one being for the top and the other for the bottom.

Having now particularly described and as-' certained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. The herein-described fastener for shoes and other articles of wearing-apparel consisting essentially of two strips or wires one at tached to or alongside each of the meeting edges of the article, such wires or strips being provided with alternate projections and recesses with converging portions at the upper end to engage and automatically lock the clip; in combination with one or more clips or collars encircling or engaging with said strips or wires with portions embracing and engaging the corrugations of said wires, sub- 'stantially as and for the purposes herein described.

2. The herein-described fastener for shoes and other articles of wearing-apparel, consisting of two pieces of material attached alongside the meeting edges of the article, said pieces having their outer edges raised from the material of the article to which they are attached and one of said pieces having its raised edge provided with alternate projections and recesses, and converging portions at the upper end and a clip lying flat upon the said pieces and having turned-under portions engaging the raised converging edges of the pieces to be automatically held in its adjusted position by engagement in said recesses and with said projections, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

. GEORGE BARNES.

Witnesses:

EDWARD WATERS, EDWARD WATERS, Jr. 

